PM2.5 levels across most of Beijing have been above 400 micrograms per cubic meter for much of the last two weeks.

 

　　When the air is this hazardous, the government recommends people avoid outdoor activities. But many must still go outside causing a sharp increase in the use of face masks. Lulu is a Beijing resident.

 

　　"I felt the smog was really thick yesterday, it hurts my throat and hurts to breathe. So I started to wear a mask today. The air pollution is really serious."

 

　　Face mask sales are going through the roof both online and in-store. The most popular face mask retailer on Taobao, China's leading online shopping website, has sold more than 112,000 masks in the past month.

 

　　Tong Ren Tang, a large pharmacy, has also seen a dramatic increase in mask sales in recent weeks. A sales clerk says:

 

　　"The pollution has been very severe the past weeks. There has been a sharp increase in face mask sales in recent weeks compared with the same period last year."

 

　　The ongoing air pollution is raising health concerns among Beijing residents. Many are choosing to travel out of the city to avoid the thick smog, while others are purchasing air purifiers to filter indoor air.

 

　　Officials have closed some factories and ordered some government cars off the road to reduce emissions. They have also proposed rules to scrap old vehicles and to ban new cement and steel factories.

 

　　TOTO Beijing is the only big ceramics factory in the capital city. One of its production procedures creates dust pollution. With air pollution escalating in the last several days, the city government told the factory to cut production.

 

　　Han Yong, deputy general manager of TOTO Beijing says halting production means big losses for the factory.

 

　　"Stopping our two plants in Beijing means we lose 1 million yuan or about 160,000 US dollars per day at the eastern factory and 0.8 million yuan at the western factory."

 

　　TOTO Beijing is only one of a 103 high-polluting factories that have completely stopped production since Tuesday.

 

　　Authorities say they were cutting the use of government vehicles by all departments by 30 percent.

 

　　However, once the smog gets lighter and the alert is lifted, factories will be back in production again. They may need to intensify production to make up for their losses, so the problem has not really been solved. Many believe that the government will have to do more to cut the pollution sources, because temporary responses are not enough.

 

　　For CRI, I am Li Dong.